Nashua South's Rhett Medling scans the floor with Alvirne's Brendan Graham checking him on the 3-point line. The Broncos prevailed on Friday night.

NASHUA – Both Alvirne High and Nashua South strolled into Friday night’s boys hoop regular season finale with one eye on the upcoming Division 1 state playoffs. In the end, it was ball pressure and size prevailing over speed as the Broncos wore down the Panthers, 56-42.

“We kicked up the intensity a little bit. That helped us,” said Alvirne coach Marty Edwards, whose Broncos turned the corner into the postseason with an 8-3 mark. “We tried to match their intensity. At first we weren’t really doing that.”

South, which fell to 4-8, hit the hardwood running, a tactic that suits the Panthers best.

The result was a first half which saw the hosts grab a 19-17 intermission advantage on Jeremiah Mitchell’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

“Any time on our floor, we think we’re the better team running,” said South coach Nate Mazerolle. “When we ran, we looked pretty good.”

But the bigger and beefier Broncos had different ideas. Alvirne clamped down full court defensively after the break. That paid exponential immediate dividends in two ways.

“I thought our communication on defense was key,” said senior forward Liam O’Neil. “We were able to get a lot of turnovers and turned those into points off turnovers.”

Easy buckets were the primary payoff, but the defensive heat also ground South to a halt.

“They were running all over the place (in the first half),” said O’Neil. “It was hard to keep up with. We really picked up the defensive intensity (in the second half).”

When Alvirne played halfcourt ball, it rode O’Neil and junior big man Brendan Graham hard.

“We started rebounding more, and that got us more opportunities,” O’Neil noted.

Alvirne was relentless.

Jacob Hibbard drilled a 3-pointer to open the third, and Anthony Ferullo turned halfcourt steals into open-court layups. A Hibbard 15-footer put the Broncos up 26-21, but South hung on and battled.

Mitchell (team-high 13 points) knotted things at 30-30 and 35-35 with his second and third triples of the night, but Charlie Thomas drove the baseline and put Alvirne up 37-35 to end the third.

The Broncos bigs simply owned the fourth, combining for 10 points, including a rim-rocking two-hand dunk by the junior Graham.

“Brendan had a good game on the inside. Liam was playing tough, too,” said Edwards. “Charlie Thomas controlled the floor, and (Hibbard) started hitting a few shots that opened things up for us.”

Said Mazerolle: “Rhett Medling puts up a great fight every night, but when they have two bigs like that it’s tough. They wore us down, and they had too many easy hoops in the paint.”

Graham and O’Neil each tossed in 15 points to pace Alvirne, while Hibbard closed with 13. Alex Hulfachor had a dozen points for South, and Cody Rocheleau pitched in nine.

“This was a good test for us. Nashua is a tough ball club. They always are,” said Edwards. “We said before the game this was like a playoff game, and we had to treat it that way. We came out in the second half, and we kind of answered it.”

Now, both teams face a fairly quick turn into the postseason.

Monday night, Bishop Guertin hosts Nashua South in the Region 4 play-in game.

The Cardinals owned the regular season meeting play this past Tuesday.

“We have a game plan, and I think if we execute it, I like our chances,” Mazerolle said.

The luck of the draw allowed the Broncos to escape a play-in game, so they will travel to Keene in the regional semifinal on Thursday.

“We’re going all the way. I’ve got confidence in my guys,” O’Neil said.